Gujarati Dal

Gujarati dal is somewhat unusual in that is tastes sweet. It's a perfect comfort food. My version of it is rather thick, but it's also common to have it with a soup like consistency - just increase the amount of water.

Preparation Time:10 minsCooking Time:35 minsYield:6 servings

Ingredients

375g
split pigeon peas (toor dal)

900mL
water
(~900g)

40mL
sunflower oil
(~36.4g)

4
green chilli pepper
(~12g)

1small knob
fresh ginger
(~8g)

2 tsp
whole cumin seed
(~4g)

1 tsp
ground turmeric
(~2.5g)

1.5 tsp
ground coriander seed
(~3g)

2 tsp
mustard seeds
(~9g)

1 tsp
asafoetida
(~2g)

½ tsp
ground cinnamon
(~1g)

5g
salt

4 medium
tomatoes
(~360g)

30g
unrefined caster sugar

75g
raw peanuts

70mL
lemon juice
(~72.1g)

Method

Rinse the split peas and then add to a saucepan pan with 900mL water and bring to the boil - gently boil for 20 minutes or until soft.

Meanwhile, finely dice the chilli and peeled ginger and set aside.

Measure out the spices, mustard seeds and salt and set aside.

Peel and dice the tomatoes and set aside.

Heat the oil in another pan - test the heat by adding a mustard seed, it should pop quickly if it's hot enough.

Add the spice, mustard seeds and salt - stir for about 30 seconds.

Add the diced chilli and ginger - stir for about 1 minute.

Add the diced tomatoes and remove from the heat.

Mash the split peas well in their cooking water, then add the contents of the oil/spice pan to the mashed split peas, along with the peanuts, sugar and lemon juice. Add additional water if you feel the dal is too thick.